The four imaams offered a great service in the field of fiqh and their heritage is great value to the ummah. The third of them:

Imaam al-Shaafi'ee

He is Muhammad bin Idrees al-Shaafi'ee, from the Quraysh, he was born in Ghaza in 150H and died in 204H. From his most well-known teachers:

• Maalik bin Anas (d. 179H)
• Muslim bin Khaalid al-Makhzoomee (d. 180H)
• Muhammad bin al-Hasan al-Shaybaanee (d. 189H)
• Yahyaa bin Hassaan (d. 208H)
• Sufyaan bin Uyainah (d. 198H)

From his well-known students:

• Yoosuf bin Yahyaa al-Buwaytee (d. 231H)
• Ishaaq bin Raahooyah (d. 238H)
• Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal (d. 241H)
• Ismaa'eel bin Yahyaa al-Muzanee (d. 264H)
• Rabee' bin al-Sulaymaan al-Muraadee al-Jeezee (d. 270H)
• Abu Thawr Ibraaheem bin Khaalid al-Kalbee (d. 240H)

The foundations of his madhhab:

• The Noble Qur'an
• The Prophetic Sunnah
• Consensus
• The saying of a Companion
• Analogy (Qiyaas)

The spread of his madhhab:

• Iraaq
• Persia
• Shaam (Syria, Jordan)
• Egypt
• Yemen
• Indonesia and East Asia

Most famous books of the madhhab:

• Al-Risaalah of al-Shaafi'ee (d. 204H)
• al-Muhadhdhab of al-Sheeraazee (d. 476H)

Refer to (الملخصات الفقهية الميسرة) "Simple, Summarized Fiqh Principles" (Imaad Ali Jumu'ah, 1434H, Dar al-Nafaa'is).